Habitat 67 and the stacked neighbourhood
A Montréal project explored density, terraces and prefabricated construction.
A demonstration in Montréal
Habitat 67 was developed for the 1967 Montréal World Exposition as a demonstration of a different approach to urban housing. Safdie Architects describes a project built around prefabricated construction and the idea of bringing features associated with individual houses into a denser urban setting. Open spaces and garden terraces were central to that ambition.
The role of the module
The building uses repeated construction modules arranged in changing combinations. The resulting residences were designed in different sizes and layouts rather than as one identical dwelling repeated throughout. Stepped placement creates roof gardens, while the assembled form leaves openings and terraces between parts of the complex. The repetition of a unit produces variation at the scale of the building.
Movement as part of the design
The architect’s account describes elevator cores serving pedestrian streets within the development. Circulation is therefore part of the neighbourhood idea, alongside the residences and their outdoor areas. When reading the project, compare the individual module, the dwelling and the shared routes: each scale explains a different part of how the overall architectural experiment was organised.
Safdie Architects — Habitat 67
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